


two drums in the gray

by dottie_wan_kenobi



Series: practice prompts [23]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, Hogwarts Library, Light Angst, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), POV Remus Lupin, mild Black Family Drama (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:07:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24891304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dottie_wan_kenobi/pseuds/dottie_wan_kenobi
Summary: Regulus catches Remus and Sirius making out in the back stacks.---written for the prompt "Giving them space when they express wanting to have some time alone."
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: practice prompts [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626685
Comments: 1
Kudos: 59





	two drums in the gray

**Author's Note:**

> another practice prompt with @whateverrrrwhatever, not britpicked but i did go thru to try and take out anything egregiously american!!
> 
> title from Run by Daughter
> 
> WARNINGS: though it's never explicitly said, Sirius and Remus spend part of this fic fearing they'll be outed. Regulus isn't meant to be a Bad Guy, or at least an irredeemable one, so there is no danger of this happening.

It’s a risk, Remus knows, snogging in the back stacks of the library. Peter is sitting nearby, on lookout duty after several long years of similar favors racking up. Hardly his fault that while he’d never had a girlfriend or boyfriend before, Peter has had several. Not his fault either that James is out with Lily today, and that Peter is all that’s left to keep watch.

But their friend isn’t what’s important here—no, what’s important is the way that Sirius is clutching his sides, a scent that’s purely him infusing Remus’s senses, his breath inversely long exhales and short puffs between and into kisses. What’s important is the way that Remus is curling into him, like he’s a cat and Sirius has found the perfect spot to scratch so he’s practically purring. 

It’s great fun being at Sirius’s disposal, under his power. Still, he can’t deny enjoying pressing his boyfriend harder into the bookshelf, wanting more and wanting to set the pace and knowing that of the two of them, he’s more likely to stop before they end up shagging in the bloody library. Which is—a thought he’ll have to save for later, when they can slip away to one of their beds and have privacy. He grips Sirius’s hips and tugs them to his own, trying not to buck against him. Dangerous territory, he knows, both thankful and bereft that they’ve got several layers between them. 

Sirius pulls back just enough to meet his eyes for a blazing second, coming back not to his mouth but to his ear. “What’s that look for?”

He’s not—good, really, at the blue talk. Not like Sirius, who has been blessed with skills beyond anything Remus could ever hope for. But he tries anyway, slipping his hand up to the small of Sirius’s back, leaning forward until he’s forced to arch against Remus’s body. “I’ve just been thinking about bed tonight, and what we can—”

A book drops, startlingly loud, very close. In-the-aisle close.

Remus jumps away, a flush filling his face so quickly and so intensely, a headache pricks at him nigh-immediately. Across from him, Sirius is much the same, fists clenched, his expression tense. They look at the same time, hoping it’s just James fucking with them, or Marlene coming to yell at them, or perhaps Dumbledore—which would be embarrassing, mortifying really, but survivable. So long as it’s not a Death Eater, some quick flash of hope inside him thinks.

Instead, they find Regulus Black standing at the darkened mouth of the shelves.

Well. It could be worse, he supposes. It could be Severus Snape.

“Um,” says Regulus, his voice cutting awkwardly through the air. “Sorry, I’ll just—”

He reaches down for his book, hesitating only a moment before turning and starting to walk away. But Sirius interrupts him, calling, “Reg.” He halts immediately, his shoulders rising to his ears. 

“You—you aren’t going to tell Mother about this, right?” Sirius tries to sound commanding, something he usually has no issue with. But there’s a tremor there, something underneath the bravado that rings too obvious. It’s clear by how Regulus turns, his eyes sharp, that he can sense it too.

He doesn’t reply at first, his gaze turning to Remus. Remus, who is covered in scars, wearing the cheapest robes he could find, his face red and what must be a lovebite on his neck. He’s not one to care what others think of him, especially people who so stupidly hate him if for nothing more than having a Muggle mother. But this is Sirius’s brother, a Black, and everyone in that family has a way of looking through to the soul, and making their disdain for it very clear.

An eternity passes, an eternity of Regulus sizing him up, of Remus standing strong because he’s learned there’s no other option. Then, finally, Regulus looks to Sirius.

“What,” he says, and the usual cruel tone is there but the passion isn’t. His words are bland, rehearsed, his fingers tight on his textbook. “That you swan around, finding people like him until you get bored and move on to the next one? She already knows. I doubt she’d care, anyway.”

He walks away before Sirius can respond, and the last thing Remus sees of him is a hand coming up to his mouth. He listens, but he doesn’t hear a laugh, or an embarrassed huff. Just a shaky exhale, a conscious correcting of his breathing. The sound is echoed much closer, Sirius leaning against the shelves again, a terribly blank look on his face.

“Should we get James?” Remus asks when the silence becomes too unbearable. He doesn’t support bullying, but—he would do anything to get that gleam out of Sirius’s eyes, to quell the fear rising in his own chest. “And Peter, wherever that prat has run off to.”

“He won’t tell,” Sirius says with a shake of his head. “Moony, I—I’m sorry, but I’ve got to run. I think—I need to—”

“It’s alright.” Remus reaches out tentatively, brushing his shoulder. “Do whatever you need to. I’ll stay here, try and get some actual work done.”

Sirius swallows, nods. He leans up on his toes and kisses Remus’s cheek, pausing only a second before he leaves too, a different way than his brother. Remus waits several long moments before he goes, determining to find Peter and see just how he would make this up to them.

**Author's Note:**

> rebloggable version coming soon.


End file.
